This is my first time participating. I want to apologize in advance for not turning off UI mods (I run several) or adjusting my Autosaves (I save every turn, keeping ten as a general practice). I did not reload a save, as much as I wished I could a few times. I achieved a Domination Victory on Turn 281, 1820 AD.
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What was your plan for achieving the VC? What are the major steps you planned to take? What events, if any, changed the plan in execution and to what new plan? Any interesting decision points?
Plan was to snowball an early Immortal Rush. Hoo boy did I hit a snag! Right as I unlocked Immortals, I goofed on protecting myself from a new Barb camp straight east of my capital. A scout managed to spot my capital and return, and instead of invading Gran Colombia with everything I had, I had to devote a few units and many turns to making sure the Barbarian uprising was put down! This had ripple effects.
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What were your initial 5-10 builds in the capital or other early cities?
I was Warrior heavy in my early builds, planning to upgrade them to Immortals. There was one scout, one builder, a few slingers and a settler who went Southwest for my second city.
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Early order for technology/civics? What did you prioritize for technology/civics?
I made haste to Iron Working for Immortals. I ignored the top line of the tech tree and any thought to establish a religion.
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How did the leader bonus and civ unique ability impact your plan/play, if at all?
I think once in the midgame, I overly relied on internal trade routes, when external trade routes would have provided more Gold. These were still good for production and bringing my conquered cities up to speed. My initial rush of Gran Colombia relied on the UU - two had double attacks from promotions by the end of the campaign. That's nuts on the Immortal. I built some of the UI but I can't say it was well though-out or impactful. The combat bonus versus full health units mattered in the end game as my Jet Fighters sometimes one-shot Korea's GDRs.
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How many cities did you settle and/or capture? Where did you settle your first few cities?
I settled Pasargadae first to the Southwest with a cheeky Encampent next to Matterhorn for the Alpine Training bonus. I settled three cities to the north, but could have done better with them I think; Gordian was directly on Iron just for the short term gain of Iron for my Immortals. To the southwest, I settled a few cities when needed to accumulate strategic resources, especially Shahr-i Qumis in the desert for Oil & Aluminum (which also picked up a late Petra).
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What were key production/purchase focuses? Military units / Civilian units / Districts & city development / Wonders / Civ Unique Unit & Infrastructure? Most critical or interesting?
After the slower-than-anticipated-but-successful conquest of Gran Colombia, I ran into Yongle. Yongle had spent the interim learning how to build walls. I didn't have the units to push forward. The mountains made attacks single-file. I captured Mitla to give myself a better 'front' but had to back off. With Korea and America shooting forward in tech, I had to find a new second target. Even though he was on the other side of the map, Basil made the most sense. I built the Venetian Arsenal in Pasargadae (in the exact same location as Tarafran!), but held off researching Frigates or Battleships. I tried to follow it with the Great Lighthouse but I missed it by a single turn! I then built a bunch of Quadriremes (half with Embrasure) and made Fleets. I sent all my units off towards Basil, with a brief pitstop in Bologna's territory to upgrade to Battleships and my land units to Line Infantry/Bombards/Field Cannons/Cavalry
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Pantheon chosen and why? Religious beliefs chosen, and why?
I could have done better. I was slow to get a Pantheon and chose to enhance Camps for the short term gains. This wasn't a good decision in the long run, as I ended up with few Camps outside my capital. For religion, I didn't found one, but did adopt & spread Gran Colombia's Catholicism (Meeting House + Choral Music) to my cities for the yields & to prevent a surprise AI Religious Victory. I struggled to find a use for my Faith generation throughout the game. It mostly went into Great People and Naturalists building parks for Amenities.
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What governments did you select? What key policy cards did you use? Why?
There were a lot of things I felt I could have done better in this game, but one thing I have no regrets on was my City State management. Even without Kilwa Kiswani (kindly built on my behalf by Basil), I managed to Suz most of the City States that were alive by Midgame (unlike others, my Valetta was conquered and destroyed. Johannesburg was conquered but later liberated by me - free envoys/suz status!). I ran Monarchy up until Fascism was available for the Influence Points. I tried to use Strategos to get myself an early Great General, but the AIs kept sniping them with Faith/Gold purchases. I did better using Invention to secure some Great Engineers.
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Which Governors were most important; when and why?
I chose Pingala first, but immediately after selected Amani to grab Suzerainity of Ayutthaya for a military advantage against Gran Colombia. In the midgame, I made strong use of Embrasure to ensure my Naval Ranged units & Spies started with Promotions. Other governors existed with one promotion to give +8 loyalty.
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Was diplomacy/trading useful? How? Relations with other civs?
Because of the wall I hit in the midgame on Yongle, I needed to play nice with my neighbors. I maintained good relations, even an allyship, with Korea for most of the game. I regularly sold off strategic resources to America, Vietnam, and Korea for cash.
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When did you have Dark/Golden ages?
No Dark Ages, but the Golden Ages took some time to get rolling. I was Normal Age until either the Reinassance or the Industrial Age, and coasted Golden Ages from there to the end. Mostly choosing "To Arms" to no significant benefit
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How did the game modes affect or impact your play?
Because I dislike how monopolies affect my favorite wincon, Cultural Victory, I don't play with them often. I feel I left bonuses on the table by mediocre choices with what cities to build my Industries in. For example, Pasargadae has the +30% culture bonus industry but had mediocre culture generation. Still, it used the production bonus and I earned some useful Great Merchants, such as Mary Katherine Goddard to enhance combat strength. I founded three Corporations in the late game, one in the early late game to make 5 products that gave +15% Gold. With my Suz of Ngazargamu, I rolled Gold into some heavily discounted Tanks and GDRs.
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Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?
While it took me a while to figure out 'What next?' when I realized conquering China was a non-starter, I really enjoyed the pivot I did to attack Basil and the logistics involved.
Choosing the Intelligence Agency for my Tier II Gov Plaza building was very frustrating when the free spy it gave me died on their first mission. I was planning to use Spies to help me catch up on tech. Embrasure-bonused Spies lived longer and kept all the Spaceports and Industrial Zones in Korea from operating.
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Did you enjoy your game?
Absolutely. This was a really interesting map and victory condition pairing. I learned some things, and I smacked myself because I knew better on some other things. I hate using nuclear weapons and (just) managed to get a victory before they came online.
Once I had taken over Basil, I was unstoppable. I blew through Germany then onto Vietnam. At the same time, my new Air Force tore Yongle apart. They were obliterated in full. For America and Korea, I beelined for their capitals. I enjoyed how, one turn before my victory, Teddy called Sejong into an emergency for being attacked by a hostile power. It was just the three of us. Little late buddy. I decided to support the resolution and then won the next turn.
One fun story that doesn't really fit into the question categories is my conquest of that southern island no civs start on. It was infested with barbs. I upgraded my scout to a Spec Ops, and sent it over, clearing all the barbs and popping the Tribal Villages. The bonuses were mediocre but there was a source of Aluminum I wanted. So when I captured a Settler from Yongle, I sent it over there. While waiting for it to arrive, Korea showed up next to my Spec Ops with an unescorted Settler. Big Mistake! I had been holding off denouncing or declaring war so I could continue to sell them strategics and luxuries, but I decided it was time. Surprise war, and that's my first city on the island, with an Aluminum mine. When the Settler I captured from Yongle finally arrived, I had them secure two Oils.
